Big Propane Nozzle (for heating metal)

[Paul G]

Hi All
Today I was bending some 15 x 15mm bar to 90 deg with my trusty 12 tonne press and it occurred
to me that if I was to need to bend thicker section I'd be stuffed.
We, or should I say the wife has, 47kg Calor cylinders for cooking, and I have a Bullfinch torch that
I bought a while ago when I repaired some leaded windows, so during tea break I trawled the net
to see just how big a nozzle I could use, without buying expensive kit, or gas, that would only get
used once in a blue moon.

For £25 ish I found a Bullfinch 1270 burner and wondered if anyone has one or has experience of them?

Forty odd kilowatt of heat sounds like a usable amount.


Over to the experts.
Cheers,
Paul G

 

[optima21]

I've used a sievert 2942 burner for heating chunks of metal up (steel upto 30mm diameter x100 mm long)for silver soldering and model boiler making (before I had welding equipment) and that was fine, the sievert burner is smaller at 26kw.

with the larger burners its better to have longer neck torches to distance yourself from the heat though.

you'd just need some firebricks to place arround the part you want to heat up to reflect the heat

 

[Turbo]

I have a 3H oxy-propane nozzle and it chucks out a lot of heat, 180,000 - 350,000btu according to the book. It can get a piece of 16mm bar red hot in seconds! It is also quite loud and you need a long neck on your torch as optima21 said.

 

[wristpin]

That 1270 throws out a lot of heat but over a big area. From my research if you want more concentrated heat without going to additional oxy the Bullfinch Autotorch brazing kit is the way to go but that concentrates the heat over a small area.
I made a welding/brazing hearth using refractory bricks from an old night storage heater which has served me well for several years .

 

[Paul G]

Cheers for the replies so far.

I am trying to avoid the expense of oxygen as it is only occasionally that this sort of job crops up.
The pic shows the job, a hand rail to be fitted to a wine cellar staircase, that I made. Wall mounts pressed,
see other pic, and the propane torches that I have.
Bullfinch torch extension (12") would be £19.00 to fit the 1270 to the red torch.
The ends of the 50 x 12mm curved top rail I bent cold using nothing more technical than a big hammer.
I live next to a church and I'll swear some of the residents dug their way out and left.
That would have been so much easier if done red hot.

Paul G

 

[wyn]

As "optima21" says, once you have the heat, the trick is to keep it there using some sort of fire or refractory bricks.

 

[Paul G]

As "optima21" says, once you have the heat, the trick is to keep it there using some sort of fire or refractory bricks.

Mmmm, so where to get night storage fire brick from?

The best time to steal some is around 8 o'clock at night, as by that time they are stone cold.

Paul G

 

[sardine]

Oxy propane is the way forward, no need to leave in a forge for ages, and get heat right where you want it in seconds.

 

[garethp]

Mmmm, so where to get night storage fire brick from?

The best time to steal some is around 8 o'clock at night, as by that time they are stone cold.

Paul G

I usually find they're cold by 10am

You'd be better off with some thermalite blocks for short term use - they'll reflect heat instead of the storage blocks soaking it up and the job taking longer.

If you use them a lot you cant beat proper insulating fire bricks

 

[wristpin]

I usually find they're cold by 10am

You'd be better off with some thermalite blocks for short term use - they'll reflect heat instead of the storage blocks soaking it up and the job taking longer.

If you use them a lot you cant beat proper insulating fire bricks

Have to say that had never occurred to me but it does seem to work quite well as it is . However I'll be keeping the eyes open for fo some proper refractory bricks!

 

[optima21]

yeah dense refractories (from storage heaters) are for storing heat and are much heavier than the light refractories that are used for reflecting and insulating from heat

 

[premmington]

yeah dense refractories (from storage heaters) are for storing heat and are much heavier than the light refractories that are used for reflecting and insulating from heat

I have a few blocks from storage heaters which I use for this job.

Even with oxy-propane, lying the item to be heated on "fire bricks" makes a difference! Even heat and you can keep things hotter for longer.

I made a sort of, angle iron frame with mesh in the bottom on legs for mine! Stacking the edge ones on the side and the middle ones flat. To make a tray like edge effect.

If you don't make a frame, the bricks get everywhere and get broken.

As I am a car mechanic, I sometimes heat turbo manifolds and casings up! I can get some heat into these without putting it all into one place (if you understand what I mean?).

I don't use it that much, but I did do some brazing on it a few months ago, this job turned out very even! But I suppose I have made what is a "Heath Robinson brazing hearth".

Also it never hurts to have something you can chuck hot things on in a workshop!

Even without oxygen, using an insulated (heat holding base). Will up the torch performance noticeably.